Seven Democratic Virtues of Liberal Education: A Student-Inspired Agenda for Teaching Civic Virtues in European Universities

In this presentation, Dr. Teun Dekker will argue that the liberal arts and sciences (LAS) model of education can inspire reform across higher education to help students acquire crucial civic virtues. Based on interviews with 59 students from LAS programmes across Europe, he will show how LAS education can develop a range of citizenship skills that are central to the democratic process. The interviews provide insight into how studying LAS prepares students for citizenship by asking them to reflect on their education, what it taught them, and how it did so. Building on these insights, seven key democratic competencies are identified and linked to concrete educational practices that foster them, leading to an agenda for higher education reform.

Dr. Teun Dekker is a Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Education at University College Maastricht, where he teaches courses on the intersection of the Social Sciences and the Humanities, including History of Political Thought and Distributive Justice in Contemporary Political Philosophy. From 2011-2018, he was Vice-Dean of Academic Affairs at the University College Maastricht. Currently, he is a member of the Executive Board of the European Consortium of Liberal Arts and Sciences, whereby he functions as a pre-eminent thinker with regards to the European LAS model, seeking to advance liberal education in Europe, through policy and consultancy work.

This is a free event and all are welcome to attend.

This event is a part of the L(iberalArts) ED(ucation) Lecture series and is co-hosted by the York Centre for Asian Research.